St Stanislaus Church in Nowy Korczyn

St. Stanislaus Church in Nowy Korczyn is a 13th-century Gothic church founded in 1257 by Duke Bolesław the Chaste and his wife Kinga, later canonized as St. Kinga. It stands in a small town in the Ponidzie region of southern Poland, near the point where the Nida River joins the Vistula. Since 2015 it has been a diocesan shrine of St. Kinga, and its plain brick exterior hides one of the richest Baroque interiors in the area – an easy and rewarding detour for anyone exploring the countryside north-east of Kraków.

Where it is and how to get there

Nowy Korczyn (roughly "NO-vy KOR-chin") lies in the Świętokrzyskie region, about 22 km from the spa town of Busko-Zdrój and some 65 km south-east of Kielce. From Kraków it is a drive of roughly 80 km, which takes about an hour and a half; national road 79 runs through the town. Public transport is limited to regional buses, so a car is by far the easiest option. The church is at 1 Franciszkańska Street, a few minutes' walk from the market square.

A medieval royal town

It is hard to believe today, but in the Middle Ages Nowy Korczyn was one of the key towns of Lesser Poland. Bolesław the Chaste granted it town rights in 1258, King Casimir the Great built a royal castle here (nothing of it survives), and in the 15th century regional assemblies of the nobility met in the town. The Franciscan church was founded alongside the new town and was enlarged by Casimir the Great in the 14th century. Later centuries added a nave vault (17th century), a bell tower linked to the west front (18th century) and a neo-Baroque gable (19th century). Fighting in 1945 damaged the westernmost bay of the nave.

What to see inside

• The presbytery vault – a 14th-century rib vault, the oldest structural element you can see.
• Baroque wall paintings completed by 1761: Maciej Reichan painted the nave vault, while Mikołaj Janowski decorated the presbytery vault, the friars' choir and the chancel arch wall.
• Scenes from the life of St. Stanislaus, the 11th-century bishop of Kraków and one of Poland's patron saints, on the presbytery walls.
• The high altar painting, "The Raising of Piotrowin" by Reichan, showing the legend in which the bishop brings a dead knight back to life to testify in court.
• Six late-Baroque side altars.

The adjoining wing of the former friary, rebuilt several times after fires, now serves as the parish house.

St. Kinga's shrine

In 2015 Bishop Jan Piotrowski of Kielce declared the church a diocesan shrine of St. Kinga, the Hungarian-born princess remembered in Poland as the patron of salt miners (the famous Wieliczka Salt Mine has a chapel dedicated to her). Kinga is also the patron saint of Nowy Korczyn. Each year the town holds the Kingonalia festival together with a diocesan pilgrimage: a procession walks from St. Kinga's spring to St. Stanislaus Church for a festive Mass. Her feast day is July 24.

Is it worth visiting?

If you enjoy quiet places with real medieval history and few tourists, yes. This is a working church – a branch church of the local Holy Trinity parish – not a museum, so there are no tickets and no posted visiting hours (as of October 2026). The most reliable time to see the interior is just before or after a service. Allow 30–45 minutes for the church and an hour or two for the whole town. Signage and information on site are in Polish only.

Nearby

Within a few hundred meters you can see the Holy Trinity parish church with its Mannerist facade, the ruins of a 17th-century synagogue (a reminder that Jews made up most of the town's population before World War II), the 16th-century Długosz House and St. Kinga's spring. The medieval basilica in Wiślica is a short drive away and pairs well with Nowy Korczyn on a day trip.